Know Thyself, Love Thyself, Heal Thyself, Be Thyself

ZED’s Artisan Craft Fair: RECAP!

Ok! So JUST like I promised, I’m going to tell you all about the event on Saturday! Unfortunately, I didn’t quite get pictures the way I wanted to because I was off being a BUSY, BUZZING, NERVOUS BEE (I’ll explain), but SO MUCH has happened!

For starters, I had to borrow two somewhat small tables from the owner of the shop, Pamela–but guess what? WE MADE IT WORK! No lie, at first, I was a NERVOUS WRECK. Just the thought of sitting there outside all day smiling at strangers passing by me, hoping SOMEONE would stop and look at my artwork, or even BUY something! (I was selling some of my original artwork and face-painting). I started off with fear-based thoughts, “What if nobody even likes my art? What if no one BUYS anything? My art isn’t all that impressive! I’m out here looking FOOLISH! NO, NO, NOOOOOO!!” 😥

NO WORRIES, THOUGH! My ride on that particular Train of Thought didn’t last very long–I made SURE of that! I quickly cast the fears out and changed my point of view of the entire situation! I looked at it as a LEARNING experience instead and opened myself up in that way. I’m still brand-new to vending, so for the most part, I took time to pay attention to what other vendors were doing (their setup, their equipment, their mannerisms, how they interacted with potential customers, actual customers, etc.) and took notes in my small notebook, including a list of all the things that I’ll need to invest in as I get further into this VENDING WORLD!

Once I changed my perspective to one of an avid student learning new things (which is what I am ANYWAY), my nerves pretty much calmed down. As a result, SO MANY DOORS have been opened for me too! Throughout the day, some interesting people DID stop by my table, marveled at my artwork, and we spoke. I even exchanged information with some of them. Out of all these wonderful people who I spoke to, FOUR DIFFERENT PEOPLE came up to me with even MORE vending opportunities at THEIR different events and affairs! C-C-Can the CHUTCH say–??? I’ll tell you more about THAT later on as they draw closer and I’m actually SURE that I’ll be attending these events–I can’t give ALL the good stuff away NOW! 😀 ❤

I was in good company all day though! I was vending next to a kind woman named Dee, and SHE was vending her one-of-a-kind hand-crafted bags! From totes to tablet/laptop bags, to purses–her bags were FLYY (yup with TWO Y’s)! We talked all day and she even bought us some ice cream! (It was HOT as EVER outside with the Sun beaming down on us all Still…I gotta love my ruling planet though. ❤ ) I saw a few of my friends who knew I was vending and decided to stop by to see how I was doing. 🙂

I ended up selling THREE pieces! 😀 How exciting! And so…with that money I made, I bought myself these BIG, BEAUTIFUL silver earrings that’s in the shape of the Adinkra symbol, Gye Nyame, which means “except for God (I fear no one).”

The event was from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. When it was close to the end of the event, all the vendors started to pack up, I did the same. Even though I didn’t do any face painting, like I said, I talked to a LOT of interesting folks, gave out almost ALL of my business cards, received plenty of contact information of others along with their events, etc.

So, the event ended, I went to Atiya Ola’s for a bite to eat and I spent the rest of the day with my King… 🙂 ❤

It was a wonderful, educational, uplifting experience overall, and again–I’ll keep you posted on what develops from these new connections that I’ve made.